February 2010

February 26, 2010

I wanted to talk about an issue I've seen customers report that exhibits itself in a few different scenarios. You may have come across one (or all) of the following issues when working in your Revit Structure file:

Your Column Location Mark parameters are empty

No Columns display in the Graphical Column Schedule

Wall Foundations do not display an Analytical Model

These issues will occur if your project was created from scratch without a template:

So either the project you are working in was created this way, or the template you used to create your project was originally created this way.

To bring the missing components into the model, you will need to transfer the elements to a file that was created based off of a template. In Revit Structure 2010, the easiest way to achieve this will be to do the following:

Open a new file (making sure that it is based off of a Revit Structure template).

Link your project into the new file.

Select the link, and choose to Bind it.

Select the group element created from the Bind, and Ungroup it.

If you have Revit Structure 2011, you can upgrade your project file and the missing components will be added automatically.

If you come across doors in a schedule not listing the From Room or To Room fields there are a few steps we can work through:

1. First check the room Instance Properties > Limit Offset for rooms not correctly displaying fields in the schedule. You will need the rooms set to at least a few inches above half the height of the door to be detected. For example, if you have a 10’-0” door ensure the room Limit Offset is at least 5’-2” or else the field will be blank in the schedule.

2. If that does not resolve the issue ensure the room is in a properly enclosed region. Rooms that are not enclosed will not properly show these fields in the door schedule.

3. If this does not resolve the issue try cutting & pasting the room to the same place. To avoid the room numbers shifting when pasting you can place the room in a group first using the approach in the post below:

February 25, 2010

If after when launching the Worksharing Monitor extension for Revit products the dialog does not open, check the Windows Task Manager. Look for the WorksharingMonitor.exe process to see if the Worksharing Monitor is running.

If the process is active but the dialog is nowhere to be found move onto the troubleshooting process below:

1. Restart the workstation, launch the Worksharing Monitor. If the results are the same move onto the next step:

2. For Windows Vista or Windows 7 users right-click on the Worksharing Monitor shortcut > Run as Administrator. If the results are the same move onto the next step:

3. If there is Antivirus or Firewall software running temporarily disable it to test if the Worksharing Monitor is being blocked. If this proves to be the case see if an exception can be added to not block the WorksharingMonitor.exe application. If this is not the case move onto the next step:

4. Open the Windows Task Manager. Look for Windows processes called rundll.exe or rundll32.exe. There are typically several of these running. They are Windows processes for running DLLs and placing the libraries into memory and should not be modified or ended.

Before launching the Worksharing Monitor make sure the Windows Task Manager is open. Make a note of the number of rundll.exe or rundll32.exe processes running. Launch the Worksharing Monitor. The number of these processes should not change with the exception of the WorksharingMonitor.exe process now on the list.

If you get to this point and the Worksharing Monitor still does not launch as expected I would recommend a clean uninstall \ reinstall of the monitor using the following approach:

1. Uninstall the Worksharing Monitor from the Windows Control Panel.

2. Open the Windows Registry Editor, locate the following folder for the 2010 version:

February 24, 2010

I ran across a couple of User Interface tips that I wanted to make sure I passed along.

Missing Dialogs: Sometimes you might run into a situation where you attempt to open a dialog box, but it does not display and the only way to get back to the Application is to press the ESC key. There is a quick way to get the dialog box back.

Press a Arrow key on your keyboard. This will lock your mouse to the missing dialog box

Drag your mouse around until the dialog shows up on your screen and click to place it

Mis-ordered Ribbon Tabs: Sometimes you might see Ribbon Tabs out of order. The cause might not be clear regarding why it happened. To fix it you can follow a simply process (you actually might consider this a feature of Revit)

Press the Control Key while you click and hold the left mouse button on the mis-ordered tab

Drag the tab to the correct location on the ribbon

Let go of the Left mouse button once the tab is in the right place

You can actually do this with any tabs and this is probably the reason the tab was moved in the first place (accidentally of course)

Included below are 5 tips to keep in mind when working with curtain walls…

1. Curtain Grid Type Association

Highlighting a curtain grid and selecting Unpin will automatically change the Type Association setting to Independent. You can save a few clicks using the Unpin tool instead.

2. Curtain Walls in Legend Views

Curtain walls do not display in Legend views. While you can drag them onto a Legend view, they will be invisible. This is because the majority of the curtain wall components [such as mullions, panels and construction settings] are driven by Type Properties which are not accessible for this object type in legend views.

3. Curtain Grid Lines Constrained to Project Grid Lines

By default you cannot align & constrain a curtain wall grid line to a project grid line. However once the curtain wall grid line is set independent under the type properties or by unpinning it, you can use the align & constrain padlock to associate a project gridline to a curtain grid:

Typically when a curtain wall door is added to the curtain wall, it appears in the door schedule with the same base constraint as the curtain wall.

Curtain wall doors are not typical doors and the placement does not always correspond to a project level. The most consistent method to reset the associated level is outlined in the video below. It involves temporarily changing the entire curtain wall base constraint and then placing a nested curtain wall in an infill to host the door. When complete the curtain wall base constraint can be reset:

You can replicate a butt glazing condition using a glass mullion or similar at the corner. Steve Stafford had an excellent video example of this workflow on the Revit OpEd blog. I’ve included the original post and video here.

February 23, 2010

Here’s a good scenario to avoid should you change your Revit username. As a best practice always create a new local file versus continuing to work in the existing local or you will run into the following scenario:

1. You have a local file, created and last saved with User1.

2. The user then opens Options > Username, and changes the username to User2 while still in the original local file.

3. They continue to work in the local file making a number of changes or adding new content.

4. When they attempt to save they receive the following error message:

5. Opening Collaborate > Worksets dialog brings up the next message:

6. Then in attempting to set your username back to User1, you navigate to Options > Username, and change the username back to User1.

7. Because changes were made to the project since the last save with a different username you will be unable to save. You will receive the following message instead:

You can’t save because modifications were done with a different username and you can’t change your username because modifications were done with a different username that haven't been saved.

As a best practice you should not find yourself in this scenario but if you do there are a few options:

1. If no one else has worked in the central file since this happened, you could potentially save this local file as the new central file. R > Save As > Project > Options > check Make this a Central File after save, and resave the local as a new central file. Afterward new local files can be created to include the latest changes.

2. If the work was contained to a specific view or area, you may be able to cut the modified geometry to the clipboard [use CTRL + X]. Next use Undo all the way back to the last save. Options > Username, and set it back to User1. Synchronize with Central. Then Modify > Paste Aligned > Same Place. This will put the geometry changes you cut back into the project under the current username and you can synchronize with central again.

3. Discard the changes to the file and create a new local file with the correct username.

Basic Revit properties will be included in the Navisworks file regardless of this setting. Checking this box will do 2 things during the export process:

1. Additional properties will be included with the resulting Navisworks file. These include properties for Navisworks related to the element properties, object orientation, material information, associated level, worksharing information, family specifications, cuttability and Revit object category.

2. Depending on the size and number of objects in your project, the export time can dramatically increase as additional properties will be translated. For example a 100 MB file with this unchecked may take a few minutes. Check the box and the export time may jump to 20 minutes. This is something to keep in mind if you don’t need the additional information in Navisworks.

For example, the following property control tabs will be available in Navisworks through the following export options. Let’s use a generic 8” wall as an example:

In addition for component families, there should be a Family tab in NavisWorks. This lists some of the family specific category and cuttable information in Navisworks when Convert element properties is checked.

If your objects have shared or project parameters attached:

Convert element properties un-checked:

Shared or Project parameter information is included and located under the Properties > Element tab in Navisworks.

Convert element properties checked:

Shared or Project parameter information is included and located under the Properties > Element tab in Navisworks.

February 19, 2010

At some point your Revit project size may have dramatically increased without the project itself dramatically changing. I’ve included 4 items below which are frequent causes for this type of file size change:

1. Family Types

Look for a large number of families which may be loaded into the project. Also if a type catalog was used when families were loaded into the project, there may be a large number of unused types.

Related to this, 1 family instance may have several nested family instances. So in the Project browserit may appear as 1 family but could potentially contain 4 or 5 more nested families. This can easily magnify the project size and is something to look for if there has been an increase. Manage > Purge Unused can be used to remove any unused family types.

2. Detailed Model Fill Patterns

Model fill patterns containing a large number of segments will greatly increase a Revit project size. This typically occurs when a detailed hatch pattern [.pat] file is used to define a new fill pattern. If when possible avoid the use of detailed custom model fill patterns to optimize the file size.

3. Raster Images & Rendered Views

For every inserted image or rendered image saved to the project, the project size will increase.

All of the inserted images, along with an instance count, can be viewed under Insert > Manage Images. Unneeded images can easily be deleted from this menu using Delete.

For rendered images saved to the project, by default they will be saved under the Renderings Project browser organization. They appear under the Manage Images dialog as well.

4. Lack of Compact File & Audit

It is essential to frequently open the central file, or project file with Audit checked to ensure the database is optimized. Along with this the project file should be compacted on a regular basis. For example audit and compact file should be run at least once a week.

To do this when opening a central file, ensure Audit is checked. Once the central file is open, save the project through Collaborate > Synchronize and Modify Settings > check Compact Central File.

For a non-worksharing enabled project file you can re-save the project file through R > Save As > Project. Click Options and check Compact File.

February 18, 2010

Does this error look familiar to any of you using Revit MEP? Typically this error occurs when running Revit MEP on Windows Vista and usually when drawing duct or converting flex duct to rigid duct.

Without getting too technical, the issue has to do with user access rights to certain registry keys in Windows Vista. Since we're still receiving a fair amount of cases regarding this problem, I thought it would be worthwhile to provide the simple steps to resolve this.

If you see the above error, please try the following:

Close Revit MEP

Right-click on the Revit MEP shortcut

Select Run as...

Select Administrator

Close Revit MEP

Run as the current user

Alternatively, you can log in as Administrator, run Revit MEP once, close it, and reopen it.

Please note that for Revit MEP 2010 users, this issue should be resolved in the latest web update. If you haven't installed the web update, you can download it here.

I happen to be a geek (you may have noticed from this blog!) and it happens to be time for me to get new glasses. This weekend I was out shopping for them (my wife is very happy). The lady at the eye glass place was very helpful and got me setup with a appointment to have my eyes checked. Its been over two years since my last exam and they need a current prescription.

I know that my eyes have changed a little bit over the last two years, but I am not looking forward to a prescription change (headaches).

I would like to blame Revit and my days spent in front a computer, but sadly cannot. For one, I am near-sighted so I don't need my glasses for looking at the computer screen, but two, Revit 2010 isn't the cause of the blurriness that I might be seeing, even if it does look a little blurry.

You may have noticed that the in 2010, the text on the ribbon or type selector is not as sharp as it use to be.

Revit 2009

Revit 2010

It is pretty bothersome. Unfortunately, the core issue is inside Windows and we have to wait for a fix from Microsoft before we can completely address the issue within Revit. The good news is that Microsoft has fixed it; the bad news is that it won’t be released to the world until later this year.

One of our developers summed it up the best. In the past, Windows has always fudged character outlines to fit on a pixel grid and look sharper at small point sizes. But when Microsoft introduced WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation), their new graphics library, they decided to stop fudging things and draw fonts as closely as possible to the way the font designer intended. This improves high-res, animated graphics -- but has bad results for small UI text. Microsoft realized their mistake and the next version of WPF will allow applications to choose which behavior they prefer.

Some applications don't have this problem because it they don't draw its ribbon UI using the WPF library. Unfortunately we need WPF to implement other ribbon features, so removing it wasn’t an option for us.

Hopefully, this will help explain that blurriness you may be seeing in Revit and know that you don't have to run off to the eye doctor. :)